Wirz and Roadcross: Drunk new drivers

Drunkenly fooling around new drivers are on the road by car. But then the unexpected happens: a doll appears in front of the car, which is traveling at around 40 kilometers per hour. The drunk driver reacts too slowly, and the car hits the doll almost without braking. Flung away from the car, it remains lying on the asphalt. The passengers are in an anxious mood: this is what it feels like to run over a human being. A month earlier, new drinkers from all over Switzerland had already registered for Drink + Drive 2013: A party with drinking alcohol followed by a driving test. The campaign is intended to draw attention to the ban on alcohol for new drivers, which will come into force in 2014. The background to the change in the law: new drivers cause an above-average number of alcohol-related accidents. They react too slowly when things suddenly become dangerous because they cannot compensate for the influence of alcohol with routine.

The campaign was developed and implemented by Wirz Werbung together with partners Jeff and Panam for Roadcross Switzerland. The event took place at the Driving Center of the Antischleuder Schule Regensdorf (ASSR), whose classrooms were transformed for one night into a party location with two bars, DJ, dance floor and chillout room. A film team accompanied the newcomers through the evening and the footage was used to create a prevention film. "The target group should experience as realistically as possible the effects of drinking and driving," says Valesca Zaugg, managing director of Roadcross Switzerland. "This is more credible than communicating with a raised forefinger." That's why they organized an event that mimics a normal Saturday evening - creating as realistic a situation as possible for new drivers. "We wanted to be present where alcohol is relevant in the lives of new drinkers: in the evening out," says Andi Portmann, Creative Director at Wirz. "So we were also able to use all channels of party communication: From flyers to tilllate photo spreads."

The progressive campaign then also attracted media attention throughout Switzerland as soon as it was launched. For example, Drink + Drive 2013 was covered by Joiz, Tele Züri, SRF, Radio 24, Argovia, Rouge FM, Sonntagszeitung, NZZ, Tages-Anzeiger, 20 Minuten in all three parts of the country and twice on the front page in German-speaking Switzerland. The various language versions of the preventive web film were viewed around 150'000 times in the first few weeks.

Responsible at Roadcross Switzerland: Valesca Zaugg (Management), Monique Ben-Shmuel (Head of Prevention Department), Stefan Krähenbühl (Public Relations), Eliane Herrmann, Jonas Bösiger (Head of Youth Prevention Department). Responsible at Wirz Advertising: Philipp Skrabal (ECD), Andi Portmann (CD), Lilian Metzker, Valentin Cheli (Art Direction), Winfried Schneider, Wolfgang Bark (Text), Flurin Hardt, Eva Boretti, Karin Krummenacher, Alessandro Tschabold, Fabiana Imhof (Consulting), Gordon Nemitz (Strategy), Jeff (Event Agency), Panam (Film Production), ASSR (Driving Instruction), Eat.Sleep.Work (Web Development), ZipMedia (Media).